It is not an exaggeration to say that Horror Without Lovecraft would be an entirely different genre. Or, possibly, subgenre. I mean, people do like to be scared, so chilling stories and novels would still exist. But the impact of “Supernatural Horror in Literature” in creating the horror genre as its own thing, independent of other types of genre fiction, was profound. So much so that modern popular fiction would look utterly different without it.
2 thoughts on “Patreon Microfiction: Horror Without Lovecraft.”
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I think you’re overstating your case.
Steven King and Clive Barker are the most popular horror fiction writers, and if either of them ever really touched on Lovecraft’s themes, I must have missed those particular books.
IMO, San Simmons is the best living writer of Horror, and he hardly touches the stuff.
I’ll cede you Ligotti. (Although my exposure is limited. He’s brilliant, but I can only stomach him in small doses, with long intervals between.) But even here, a lot of his stuff is in no way Lovecraftian.
Lovecraft’s essay is seminal, but it’s more an analysis of techniques that were already in use, than a gift of fire.
(Don’t get me wrong. I think his essay, Poe’s essay on short stories, and Tolkien’s “On Fairy Stories” essay should all be required reading.)
Well, King considers Lovecraft a major influence on his work, and Barker’s spent his literary life arguing with Lovecraft. I think the real influence may be related to something Brian Eno said, once: the first Velvet Underground album might not have sold all that many copies, but everybody who did get one started a band later. 🙂